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===''USFL v. NFL'' lawsuit=== In another effort to keep themselves afloat while at the same time attacking the more established [[National Football League]], the USFL filed an [[Competition law|antitrust]] [[lawsuit]] against the older league, claiming it had established a [[monopoly]] with respect to television broadcasting rights, and in some cases, on access to stadium venues. The case was first heard by United States District Judge [[Peter K. Leisure]] in the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York]]. The USFL claimed that the NFL had bullied ABC, [[CBS]] and [[NBC]] into not televising USFL games in the fall. It also claimed that the NFL had a specific plan to eliminate the USFL, the "Porter Presentation." In particular, the USFL claimed the NFL conspired to ruin the Invaders and Generals. The USFL sought [[damages]] of $567 million, which would have been [[Treble damages|tripled]] to $1.7 billion under [[United States antitrust law|antitrust law]]. It hoped to void the NFL's contracts with the three major networks. The USFL proposed two remedies: either force the NFL to negotiate new television contracts with only two networks, or force the NFL to split into two competing 14-team leagues, each limited to a contract with one major network. The lawyer for the USFL, Harvey Myerson, had what he felt were three "[[smoking gun]]s". # A memo from March 1973 to NFL broadcasting director Robert Cochran, from attorney Jay Moyer stating that an "open network" might be open to the "invitation to formation of a new league." # A memo from August 1983 from NFL management council executive director Jack Donlan to his staff. The memo laid out plans for NFL teams to "increase salary offers to USFL to existing players or run the risk of losing them." # A 1984 presentation to NFL executives by Harvard Business School professor [[Michael Porter]], which included a plan on "how to conquer" the United States Football League.<ref>{{cite news|last=Stock|first=Craig|title=USFL session offered only ideas, say consultants|website=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=May 28, 1986|url=http://articles.philly.com/1986-05-28/sports/26048860_1_presentation-porter-usfl|access-date=January 9, 2015|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304042757/http://articles.philly.com/1986-05-28/sports/26048860_1_presentation-porter-usfl|url-status=dead}}</ref> All but one of the league's 28 teams was named as a co-defendant. [[Al Davis]], owner of the then-[[Los Angeles Raiders]], was a major witness for the USFL and his team had been excluded from the lawsuit in exchange for his testimony.<ref name=autogenerated1/> ABC Sports' [[Howard Cosell]] was also a key witness for the USFL. The case went to trial in the spring of 1986 and lasted 42 days. On July 29, a six-person [[jury]] nominally returned a verdict for the USFL. However, the jury's findings were devastating to the upstart league. The jury declared the NFL a "duly adjudicated illegal monopoly", and found that the NFL had willfully acquired and maintained monopoly status in professional football through predatory tactics. However, it rejected the USFL's other claims. The jury found that the USFL had changed its strategy to a more risky goal of forcing a merger with the NFL. Furthermore, the switch to a fall schedule caused the loss of six major markets (Philadelphia, Denver, Houston, Pittsburgh, [[Detroit]], the Bay Area) and derailed a move to a seventh (Miami). The jury also made note of a memo Tad Taube wrote about the dispute, which quoted the comic strip ''[[Pogo (comic strip)|Pogo]]'': "[[we have met the enemy and he is us]]." Most importantly, the jury found that the NFL did not attempt to force the USFL off television. (Indeed, ESPN remained willing to carry USFL games in the fall,<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19860805&id=o3dIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=f2ADAAAAIBAJ&pg=3524,4438904&hl=en ESPN, minus USFL, has 66 hours to fill] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160301161711/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19860805&id=o3dIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=f2ADAAAAIBAJ&pg=3524,4438904&hl=en |date=March 1, 2016 }}. Associated Press via St. Petersburg Times (August 5, 1986). Retrieved January 23, 2016.</ref> several of the league's teams also had local broadcast contracts, and 1986 also happened to be the inaugural season of the [[Fox Broadcasting Company]], a network that would establish itself as the nation's [[fourth television network|fourth major broadcast network]].) In essence, the jury felt that while the USFL was harmed by the NFL's [[de facto]] [[monopolization]] of pro football in the United States, most of its problems were due to its own mismanagement. It awarded the USFL [[nominal damages]] of $1, which was tripled under antitrust law to $3.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hoffer|first=Richard|title=USFL Awarded Only $3 in Antitrust Decision : Jury Finds NFL Guilty on One of Nine Counts|website=Los Angeles Times|date=July 30, 1986|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-07-30-sp-18643-story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210329074023/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-07-30-sp-18643-story.html|archive-date=29 Mar 2021}}</ref> When NFL commissioner [[Pete Rozelle]] and NFL broadcasting chief [[Val Pinchbeck]] initially heard the verdict, they were devastated; Pinchbeck later recalled that he thought Rozelle would have a heart attack. While on their way to the league office, however, they heard that the USFL had lost nearly all of its claims, and headed back to the courthouse.<ref name=Reeths/> The verdict was a classic [[Pyrrhic victory]]. The USFL had essentially staked its future on winning the suit, hoping to finance the move to the fall by forcing the NFL to pay a substantial settlement. It considered the television-related claims to be the heart of its case. On August 4—four days after the announcement of the verdict—the USFL owners voted to suspend operations for the 1986 season, with the intent of returning in 1987; the league accurately foresaw the [[1987 NFL season|1987 players' strike]] and had hoped the strike would give the league access to star players.<ref name=sptimes86/> Players signed to contracts were free to sign with NFL (or other professional teams) immediately. Indeed, the NFL had held a draft in 1984 for teams to acquire the rights to USFL players, in the event of the league (or teams in the league) folding.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/30for30/film?page=small-potatoes-who-killed-the-usfl|title=Small Potatoes: Who killed the USFL? ESPN Films: 30 for 30|website=www.espn.com|access-date=July 30, 2017|archive-date=July 31, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731023437/http://www.espn.com/30for30/film?page=small-potatoes-who-killed-the-usfl|url-status=live}}</ref> However, it is unlikely the USFL would have been able to put together a viable product in any case. Many of its players had signed contracts with NFL teams after the 1985 season, and the league was some $160 million in debt. Five days after the verdict, the Tampa Bay Bandits were effectively shut down when a judge placed a [[lien]] on the franchise to satisfy back pay owed to former player [[Bret Clark]]. All of the team's remaining assets were seized to satisfy the debt.<ref name=sptimes86>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=o3dIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=f2ADAAAAIBAJ&dq=bandits%20scarfone&pg=4973%2C4408827 ''St. Petersburg Times''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222144742/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=o3dIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=f2ADAAAAIBAJ&dq=bandits%20scarfone&pg=4973%2C4408827 |date=February 22, 2017 }} (via Google News Archive Search)</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9O4lAAAAIBAJ&sjid=K_MFAAAAIBAJ&dq=bandits%20bret-clark&pg=3098%2C205702 ''The Miami News'']{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (via Google News Archive Search)</ref> In a desperation move, the [[Arizona Outlaws]] arranged a meeting in January 1987 with officials with the [[Canadian Football League]] hoping to negotiate a merger between the USFL and CFL; the CFL's owners were "lukewarm" and ultimately rejected the offer.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-3811251.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309194824/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-3811251.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2016-03-09 |title=New football league hope slim // CFL 'lukewarm' to merger with the defunct USFL |work=Chicago Sun-Times |date=1987-02-18 |access-date=2012-07-04}}</ref> With nearly all of its players under contract to the NFL and CFL, Usher announced the league would stay shuttered in 1987 as well. (Many of the USFL players who were not under NFL contract would end up playing in fall 1987 as [[replacement player]]s during the strike.) The USFL unsuccessfully appealed the award to a panel of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit]], which affirmed the district court's judgment in 1988. United States Circuit Judge [[Ralph K. Winter]] wrote the panel's opinion. This decision ended any chance of the USFL returning to the field, and the league's six remaining teams (the Outlaws had already decided not to return) voted to formally disband shortly afterward. However, because the USFL was at least nominally the winner of the lawsuit, the NFL was required to cover the USFL's [[attorney fees]] and costs of litigation, and the USFL was awarded over $5.5 million in attorney fees and over $62,000 in court costs. That award was appealed by the NFL; it was affirmed on appeal and ultimately allowed to stand by the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] in 1990, four years after the USFL had ceased operations. The USFL finally received a check for $3.76 in damages in 1990, the additional 76¢ representing interest earned while litigation had continued. Notably, that check has never been cashed.<ref>{{cite news|last=Somers|first=Kent|title=Twenty years later, USFL still brings fond memories|newspaper=USA Today|date=August 7, 2006|url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/2006-08-07-usfl-retrospective_x.htm|access-date=September 17, 2017|archive-date=October 23, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091023132501/http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/2006-08-07-usfl-retrospective_x.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
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